Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A September Star is born

So our Octobaby, set for a September 28th delivery date, had other ideas. We welcomed Beckett on a Friday night and have been drunk in love ever since.

On Thursday, the 16th, I started having contractions. They weren't anything different from the contractions I've had recently, but they didn't really quit either. I mentioned to Jacob and my mom that it would be totally cool if my water broke and this was it. This came after a set of dismal lab results that showed my platelets at a level that was bordering on too dangerous for an awake delivery. Again. I was hoping for a different outcome, so labor, while a long shot, seemed to be my only shot at having the delivery I wanted. Jacob and my mom both laughed at me and reminded me that I had pretty much no chance of my water breaking. Eventually, my contractions slowed down and I went to bed. Interesting though, was the fact that I felt like I was wetting myself all night. TMI, I know, but I felt pitiful and embarrassed that at this stage in pregnancy, I had lost control of my bladder function too.

So the next day, I was waiting for the doctor to call with the results of some repeat labs I had done earlier in the week. In addition to the low platelets, it appeared that I was developing preeclampsia, so the doctor wanted to monitor some additional levels. At 3:30 that afternoon, I received a call from the doctor's office confirming that my levels were preeclamptic, but not quite bad enough for an immediate delivery, so they wanted me to wait until Monday for another set of labs. Being a complete hormonal control freak, I flipped. I told the nurse that this wasn't going to work for me, and I wanted the labs repeated tonight. She got nervous, told me she would consult with my doctor, and get back to me. After a few minutes, she called back and said the doctor wanted me to go to the hospital for blood work. So I did. My dad came over to watch Ben, I called Jacob, and stopped at my friend, Monique's sub shop for dinner and to tell her I was on my way to the hospital. On the off chance that I might deliver, she followed me there.

At the hospital, they ran several tests. I got hooked up to machines, gave them some bodily fluids for testing, and hung out in a triage room. Monique and I chatted about everything but the situation at hand, and fully expected to go home later in the evening. A nurse came in and asked lots of questions, gave me a physical exam, and before walking out, asked "Have you been leaking any fluid?" I told her I had, but was pretty sure it was just incontinence. She wanted to check to be sure, so she ran another test.

A few minutes later, the nurse got preliminary lab results back, which showed that my platelets had increased. Which is unheard of, but I accepted the news happily. Just as she was getting ready to send us home, the results from the fluid test came back. My water had broken. And had likely broken the night before and was slowly leaking for 24 hours. The on-call doctor was on her way in, and I was going to deliver within the hour. Monique sat back down, Jacob, who had arrived earlier with Ben, was going to bring him back to my dad, and the family was going to be called. Beckett was coming!

I was prepped for surgery, given a spinal for pain relief, and given a neat hair net for the operating room. Jacob returned and got his little surgery outfit. The family - Monique and my mom, were sent to the OR observation room to be ready to meet Beckett as soon as he arrived and we were on our way. At 10:15ish, I entered the OR. At 10:27, they began the surgery. And at 10:34, I heard the sweet sound of a baby boy announcing his arrival. He cried as soon as his head popped out, but before his body was, and continued all the way down the hall while he was cleaned up. I met back up with him after I was sewn up and wheeled to recovery, and we've been together ever since.

Beckett has been wonderful. He is a lot like his BIG brother, Benjamin in that he's a very sweet natured, easy going baby. He sleeps when he's supposed to, eats on command, and smiles unintentionally at all the right times. He has a head full of black hair. It matches the black hair all over his back, shoulders, elbows and earlobes, in true LaPlaca fashion. He actually looks quite ethnic, so we call him our little mexican, and refer to him as "Pedro". His skin and eyes are dark and his nails are very long. All the doctors have commented that he may even have been further along than our dates suggest. His birth certificate has 38 weeks listed as his gestational age at delivery when he was only 37. Things have been much easier this time around, because Mama and Dad are old professionals and feel a lot less anxiety about parenthood. Healing from surgery this time around has also been easier. I attribute most of this to being awake for this c-section, but several people have commented that I have bounced back sooner than most post c-section mamas do, general anesthesia or not. Ben is slowly getting used to his new role as big brother. He hasn't exactly embraced the new bundle, but hasn't acted inappropriately either. He's even given Little B a hug or two since he's been out of the womb.

So The Turners are now a party of four. Beckett James is three weeks early like his brother, but here in his own timing, and healthy as could be. And we're completely in love.